Our New Showroom

I may have mentioned that we sold the VW. Or maybe I haven’t mentioned it. I sometimes get confused between what I say publicly on Facebook compared to my blog. It’s hard to keep track of my virtual life sometimes. Anyway, I know I announced on Facebook that my Christmas wish came true and some poor soul agreed to buy the VW. It was such an enormous sense of relief to get rid of that thing and it makes me laugh to think back to Karlo’s feelings after he donated the barely-running, problem riddled Passat. He swore that he would NEVER buy another VW because of his previous track record of endless problems with them. But then we decided to move far from civilization and his truck got about 14 miles to the gallon. We really needed an all-purpose doggie mobile that was good on gas. Enter the VW TDI diesel. As much as we didn’t want to get a VW, they are really the only choice if you want a diesel so we broke down and went against Karlo’s better judgment. A mistake. But it’s gone now so we can breathe easy.

Then two days later my beloved Mini breaks. We brought it to a local shop this week who reported back that they can’t fix it. They called the BMW dealership for advice and were told that it’s way too tricky of a job and will likely take 7-9 hours of labor to fix. That amount of labor time at a BMW dealership is scaring me to death. I don’t even want to discuss. Next subject.

Knowing that we were selling the VW Karlo started his hunt for a replacement vehicle. He went round and round, changing his mind daily. Should we really keep 3 cars? Wouldn’t it make more sense to sell the VW and the Jeep and get one all-purpose car, big enough for two dogs and with 4-wheel drive? We researched all sorts of SUVs and when he finally made his decision to buy an Audi I nearly choked. For years I’ve been eying the Audis and every time I did Karlo reminded me that they are just glorified VWs and he was completely against them. What was he thinking? When the dealer handed over the car key I recognized the key-thingy as an exact replica of a VW key. I pushed it into Karlo face and said, “Do you see this? You KNOW you’re buying a VW, right?” Karlo’s response was, “When the German factory makes a good car they slap an Audi logo on the grill. When they make a bad car they slap a VW logo on the grill.”

So now we supposedly have a ‘good’ car. So good, in fact, that it may never leave the showroom which is now our garage. The car was completely detailed when we picked it up on Monday, but that didn’t stop Karlo from washing it as soon as we got home. We’ve been driving the Jeep, which barely has heat, all week. My feet have been blocks of ice during our work commute and two days ago the driver’s door froze forcing Karlo to hold the door closed, steer the vehicle, and shift gears all at the same time. I just sit in the passengers seat shaking my head. We could be riding in around in total luxury instead. What good is a good car if you never drive it?

Creature of Habit

Cooper is such a creature of habit that he just cracks me up. Take for instance the time we moved the doggie door. He had lived with us for a total of 5 days before Karlo decided to move the doggie door 3 feet over from where it originally was . . . literally, THREE feet! Cooper just couldn’t find the door and was so programmed to it being in one place that he kept going to the same old spot, banging his head against the now drywalled-over old doggie door area. He had accidents in the garage because he just couldn’t understand why his door wasn’t opening. It took Peanut going through the door in front of him for him to catch on that the door got moved.

Then tonight I upset his apple cart all over again. We had the woodstove crankin’ over 600 degrees and I learned (from Lisa’s past mistakes) to take our Eco fan off the stove when it reaches 600+ degrees. I simply picked up the fan and placed it on the slate floor near the stove, and also near the dogs’ beds. Well Cooper just couldn’t figure out what this new object was sitting on the floor staring him in the face. He paced around it, doing laps around the first floor of the house. He would hang is head, as if to stare the fan down and then slowly back away from it, as if the fan was advancing. I just marveled at this little display of OCD. He just cracked me up. Meanwhile Peanut didn’t have a care in the world and had no idea what Cooper was making all the fuss about. This went on for over 10 minutes until he finally stopped pacing and settled down on his bed, keeping one eye open and locked onto that fan the whole time . . . making sure it didn't move. Luckily the stove temp dropped enough for me to return the fan to its rightful place. At last Cooper could take a nap. And I thought I was the neurotic one in the house.

A Bit Embarrassing

Wow, the days since Christmas have been flying. I’ve been trying hard to stay away from the computer as much as possible and I’ve been doing a pretty darn good job. Of course it’s been kind of easy because I’ve been distracted by my very dusty scrapbooking station and my newest toy. I’m at least 2 or 3 years behind on scrapbooking and fear I’ll never catch up. I think my only hope at catching up involves not travelling for the next couple of years and/or losing my camera. Gasp, the mere thought of either one makes me shiver.

So I’ve spent the last few days making a few scrapbook spreads and working on next year’s New Year’s resolution. Forget dieting and/or exercising. Every year I swear that I’ll drink more water and take my vitamins. Blah, blah, blah . . . it’s a waste of breath. I never keep those promises. But this year will be different. This year our New Year’s resolution is to have more fun! And we are committed. So committed, in fact, that we traded my ridiculously expensive Christmas earrings in for a Wii console and some games. And what fun we’ve been having with them. So much fun, in fact, that my entire back has been sore for two days. How embarrassing is that? I can’t even believe that I’m admitting this fact. Not to mention the Wii Fit says that I’m 7 years older than I really am. Not sure what can be more depressing that that. But at least I have a goal to work for. Lord knows I need one seeing as the Wii Fit insists that I’m underweight and demands that I use the game to GAIN wait. Hello, can’t I just sit on the couch and eat Oreos to achieve that goal? How ridiculous. So my goal is to at least get my age down to where it belongs, if not score younger than I really am. Oh yeah, and of course we must achieve our goal of making 2010 a FUN year!

Slightly Misunderstood

Well, it's the much anticipated day after Christmas . . . finally. I've been looking forward to this day for quite some time. The day that I can look back at all the chaos that I lived through and be happy to have it behind me. I can't tell you how many times I said, "I can't wait for Christmas night . . . to be home, with nothing more on our plate, for no more stresses on my shoulders . . ." And we didn't even get out of my brother's driveway last night before we discovered that my car had not only no reverse (thank God my brother's driveway is a hill that slopes toward the road), but I also had no 2nd or 4th gear in my transmission. For God's Sake . . . we JUST sold the problem VW two days earlier and I truly thought all of our car problems were over. So much for that. And so much for my stress ending on Christmas day. It almost brings me to tears.

But luckily our holidays were fun ones. I really enjoyed visiting with all my family, and as you already saw, thoroughly enjoyed spoiling the dogs on Christmas morning. It really makes me realize that the holiday is not about all the presents under the tree, but about the fun times to be had with family. And on the subject of presents under the tree, I may have to write a letter to Santa. I think he has me a little misunderstood. He brought me all sorts of great things and spent way too much money on me. After the expensive jewelry, fancy pants face creams and designer yoga clothing I have two things that are competing for my favorite gift of the season:

Those slippers are like walking on Heaven and how cute is that T-shirt? It says, "I suffer from multiple greyhound syndrome (cuz one greyhound is never enough.)" LOVE IT. I still have no idea where Penni found it. The favorite gift in second position is this:

Karlo got one too! So Santa, please know that it's not about the amount of dollars spent. It's really wasted on a simple girl like me. It's really the little things (like fuzzy socks) that make me the most happy. And now it's time for some hot cocoa in my new mug.

Christmas Has Gone To the Dogs

What a fun morning we had . . .



Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!

Two Different Doctor's Offices

Uuugh. I'm still sick and it seems as though my cold has come to a halt. I fear that, like all my previous colds over the past several years, it will end with a sinus infection and a trip to the doctor. I dread having to see a doctor. Mostly because the whole process just irritates me. I don't like the fact that my general medicine doctor has zero regard for my time. The last time I made an appointment this office told me to 'come right in now.' I was shocked and delighted they were free just when I needed them. I arrived within 10 minutes to a completely packed waiting room, where I sat for nearly 2 hours waiting for the doctor. Are you kidding me? The nurse knew this was the current situation and still told me to come right in? I wanted to beat her silly. So this leads me to a cute email I got today that you might enjoy . . .

Two patients limp into two different medical clinics with the same complaint. Both have trouble walking and appear to require a hip replacement.

The FIRST patient is examined within the hour, is x-rayed the same day and has a time booked for surgery the following week.

The SECOND sees his family doctor after waiting 3 weeks for an
appointment, then waits 8 weeks to see a specialist, then gets an x-ray, which isn' t reviewed for another week. And finally has his surgery scheduled for 6 months from then. Why the different treatment for the two patients?

The FIRST is a Golden Retriever.
The SECOND is a Senior Citizen.

Next time take me to a vet!

I Should Take Lessons

I should have taken some lessons from the rest of my family not only on how to have fun and enjoy the holiday spirit, but also on how to relax and get some much needed rest. Seems most of the other living creatures in the house have no problem doing this on a weekend day.

But I didn't watch and learn. I just kept going and going . . . until I finally woke up with a cold that knocked me out and I had no choice but to make my way to the couch, and stay there. uuugh. The cold that has been threatening to blossom since last Monday has finally attacked. What the heck took it so long? Well, I'm not going to complain. Better now than during Christmas. Maybe I'll go curl up with Cooper in front of the wood stove right now for some R&R. That along with a cup of tea should make me feel better.

Christmas Letter 09

It’s time again to reflect back and summarize our year. Like all others, 2009 was a busy one. After ending 2008 overwhelmed and over-stressed I vowed to make some changes and I took measures to ease the burden of my side business. I spent most of the winter restructuring my YogaDudes business to take much of the day-to-day burden off of me. And because that restructuring wasn’t enough work, I decided to begin my studies to attain my yoga teaching certification. By the end of the Spring I was officially certified to teach so Karlo decided that I needed a studio . . . and the construction of the “Love Shack” began.

That certainly sucked up lots of time and resources, but it was mostly a fun project. We took a break from the work and enjoyed a terrific vacation in AZ. We took a tour on Karlo’s dream motorcycle, cruised around Lake Powell on a yacht, and hiked the Grand Canyon. We sure do love Arizona and have a feeling we will find ourselves back there some day.

We managed to blow the dust off our bicycles this summer and enjoyed some nice rides around home. I fell back in love with my beautiful road bike and wished there was more time in the day to get more riding in. We celebrated our 7 year anniversary by taking a bike trip in Maine and it reminded us how much we love Maine. There just isn’t enough time to do all we still want to do.

We also squeaked in another vacation this year. Karlo had a business trip to Milan and I tagged along, We extended the trip with a week in Southern Spain and it was just the break that I needed – warm beaches and a million photographic opportunities. I was in heaven.

After getting back home it was non-stop work on my new gallery (GreenValleyArts.com) getting ready for the big grand opening. I really made the most out of last year’s Christmas present. I guess you can say it was life altering to get a ‘real’ camera. I put it to lots of good use. And that, combined with my new kiln, gave me all the tools I needed to fill my new studio. The thrill of having my own art gallery was as great as I had imagined. Cross another thing off my Bucket List.
When Autumn approached Bentley took a turn for the worse and quickly deteriorated. It was torture to watch him struggle as we lost him to bone cancer. We buried him at the beginning of November and it still hurts. To ease some of the pain we decided to adopt another greyhound. We named him Cooper to continue with our tradition of classy car names. So far he’s fitting into our family perfectly.

I keep insisting that we will eventually learn how to slow down and I’m hoping that 2010 will be that year. I look forward to a fresh start and a clean slate. So far we have no plans for the upcoming year and that is some how exciting. I want to make next year more about fun times and less about work. That’s the goal. I’m very proud of what we accomplished this year, but I will be even more proud if we can successfully pull off a year of fun and relaxation.

As always we are extremely grateful for all our blessings and we are wishing all our friends and family a terrific year filled with health and happiness.

Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to all.

It's Come to This

Well this is what I've been driven to. After an incredibly bad and stressful day where I was pushed to the brink of tears over my yoga business, I just coudn't take it any more. I told Karlo on the way home that I wrote to a friend this afternoon and told her that I want to run away, hide in a closet and drink until I passed out. If you know me, you realize that things must be pretty bad . . .because I don't really drink. So as soon as we got home Karlo asked, "So what are we drinking?" I wasn't actually serious about drinking, but I figured what the heck? I could use to relax a little. So I reached for the unopened bottle of Hungarian Plum Brandy. Knowing how much I love plum wine I actually started to look forward to the sweet-tasting treat. Well, I was in for a surprise. This stuff was terrible! Holy burning, non-tasting nastiness. But I drank no less than 5 shots anyway. And it did the trick. I relaxed, ate dinner, played with the dogs, took a shower and basically did nothing productive all night. And I liked it. If orders are still coming in tonight, they can wait. Why should I stress and scramble because customers are lazy and wait until the last darn minute to shop? Too bad. I like my new attitude. I should drink nasty plum brandy more often!

Trying to Improve my Mood

The only thing that always cheers me up is playing with either my camera or my digital photos. And since I'm stuck at my computer tonight, again, processing stinkin' orders (Yes, I'm the only person in the world that gets angry and annoyed when people send me money). Ooops, where was I? Oh yes, since I'm stuck at my computer I played around with some of the photos I took a couple of weeks ago and I thought I would post a few to improve my mood . . . and possibly yours. Pretty pictures are always refreshing to look at. Jean, these are especially for you. I hope they inspire you to get out and shoot!

The Count Down

I’m starting my count down to the New Year. It’s the only thing keeping me going for the rest of this year. Not only am I excited to end this difficult quarter, but I’m happy that the next year will be an even one. I have always loved even years . . .

And this odd year is being nasty right to the biter end. As if I wasn’t miserable enough yesterday, I had to add an IBS attack to my sore throat and headache. I spent most of the time at my niece and nephew’s birthday party in fetal position on the couch with gut wrenching stomach pains. Then on the drive home a huge rock hit the windshield of my precious Mini Cooper and broke it. JUST what I needed – another car issue to have to deal with.

Oh that reminds me that I never shared the VW story. Now this is something I need to document so get ready. You might think the stresses of the holidays and my side business are enough to give me an IBS attack, but the real culprit was our thorn-in-the-side VW. After putting in a new alternator this Fall we decided to keep the car for one more winter season before passing the VW curse on to an unsuspecting bystander. That was a big mistake. A few weeks ago the brakes started to grind so we brought it in for repairs. $603 and one week later we picked the car up. One week after that Karlo nearly ended up in the pond when we pulled out of the garage only to discover that he had no brakes at all. Thank God this didn’t happen on the road.

Needless to say he was mad and called the shop to demand they pick the car up and fix it this time. Luckily we were just about to take off for Florida so there was no rush. We gave the shop a week to rectify the situation. Imagine how happy I was to hear Karlo come home from work on Monday to report that he got the car back from the shop (brought it to work and left it there), it cost an additional $300, and it was not drivable!! I just couldn’t wrap my head around this situation. They did NOT fix the car and he paid 300 MORE dollars? What is wrong with this picture? Hence, the IBS attack. Does anybody have any enemies that we could sucker into a used car that gets 45 miles to the gallon? Brakes are really over-rated if you’re a good driver . . .

Something I Forgot to Mention

I meant to post a little blurb about the fact that I changed some settings on this blog. I used to let anybody post a comment, but with the amount of spam comments I've gotten over the past two months, I snapped. You now must jump through hoops to be able to post a comment and I apologize for that. I may some day change the settings back, but right now I'm in no mood spamming nonsense. If you remember the Shriek movie . . . I'm a donkey on the edge! Not to be messed with. At least not for the rest of this year. So please bare with me.

It's the Most Dreaded Time of the Year

You were supposed to sing that title. I know it doesn't have the right amount of syllables to sound like the real song, but you get the picture. I am seriously growing to hate, loathe and despise the entire month of December. I find myself looking at the calendar and just wishing the month would come to end as quick as possible. I don't think there will ever be a point at which I can turn around and enjoy the holiday season. I am married to the Grinch and everything has become a burden instead of a joy. I am over-worked, over-stressed, and all-around not too happy. Going away for a week in the middle of the chaos sure doesn't help any. I do have to say, it was easier than last year (thanks mostly to the fact that I now pay somebody else to do most of the dirty work), but it is still too much for me to handle. Yesterday I took the day off from my real job and I worked non-stop for 16 hours. I didn't even eat lunch and only took 5 minutes to scarf down leftover pasta that Karlo heated up. I never even had time to unzip my suitcase, let alone unpack it.

And to make matters worse, my throat and head are killing me. Because what could make this dreaded month even more fun than getting a cold? There isn't enough egg nog, holiday music, nor Snoopy specials in the world to save me this year. I want it over.

Dogless In Eastford

What a lonely night it was last night. It is so strange to have such an empty house. Even though our dogs sleep motionless all evening it’s just nice to look over and watch them. Funny how much companionship they provide just laying there. I could tell that Karlo really missed the hounds because during every commercial he got up and jumped on me (instead of them). I took all kinds of abuse and really wished I had the dogs home to ease some of the hugging and squishing that I had to endure all night. And what really amazed me is how intensely sad I became missing Bentley. I guess having the other guys around gets my mind off of how much I miss him. But when the house was empty it was Bentley that I missed the most. OK, tears coming again . . . must stop.

On a brighter note, both of our hounds will be living it up this week. Peanut is staying with Auntie Lisa and will, no doubt, be spoiled. Cooper scored himself a get out of jail card and will be spending the week with Auntie Jean (instead of the kennel). You are not even going to believe this, but just look what he did yesterday during his big outing with her:

I just had to post that picture so I can sneak onto my blog from Florida this week. I’ll need that picture to put me into the holiday spirit. Just when the snow fell and it started to feel like Christmas, we have to fly to Orlando . . .

First Snowfall of the Season

OK so technically the first snowfall came in October. But we were on a beach in Spain so that one doesn't really count. What a thrill it was to wake up to a winter wonderland this morning. Lord knows I needed it to improve my holiday spirit. I'm not sure that it helped in that aspect, but I sure did have fun walking around it in today. And a really nice visit from Tina and her girls helped my spirits so, all in all, it was a great day. We took our first hike nice and early, before the sun fully rose over the tree tops. The lighting was perfect for picture taking.

Too bad those North Face gloves that I raved about weren't perfect too. I totally sacrificed my fingers and will more than likely pay the price for the nice photos I got.

Unfortunately, I learned my lesson and kept the camera in the house for our second hike of the day. Tina and the girls joined Karlo and I for another gorgeous walk in the woods. With my hands in my pockets, I could have done that all day.

On the gallery note, it was another very slow day with only one paying customer. After Tina left I realized that our driveway alarm was not working. Ooops. I wonder if I missed any customers while we were cozying up in the house. Aaaah, who cares? It was worth it. Karlo fixed the alarm and luckily I did run outside in time to greet our customer.

If you would like to see more pictures from our walk in the woods, please click here.

Paula’s Favorite Things 2009

I caught wind of Oprah’s Favorite things last week and that reminded me that it’s time to post my own. I really enjoy making my lists and I’m trying to convince Karlo that this list should give me a good excuse to try new fun things throughout the year – for the sake of having an interesting list at year’s end. Well, without any further ado here are my favorite things of 2009 (in no particular order).

Northface Stretchy Gloves
I’ve been forever searching for a pair of gloves that don’t choke my fingers and make them cold simply by putting the gloves on. This is going to sound ridiculous, but these fit me ‘like a glove.’ They are stretchy and super comfortable. I’m even betting that I can work my camera while wearing them, which would be a super bonus. Only problem with them is (for me) they will only be useful in temps as low as 55. After that, it’s back to the mittens.


Sobe Life Water
Boy do I wish tap water tasted this good. I would never be dehydrated again. I discovered this water this summer before a bike ride. A gas station had them on special and, of course, I bought the drink that didn’t include all the bad sugars and corn syrup, but was also on sale. It was a total win/win. LOVE this stuff and I should buy it by the case.


I Love Comfort Shoes
OK, so these may not be the most fashionable shoes, but if you’re in the market for some seriously comfortable shoes these cannot be beat. In the past I’ve tried Rockports and even those hurt me. The only other shoes that are perfectly comfortable for me are Keens and those just don’t cut for say dancing or trade shows. I Love Comfort offers many dress shoe styles. I bought a pair of flats for trade shows and wore them all over Italy without socks and without the slightest bit of discomfort. I also bought a pair for ballroom dancing and they are even more comfortable than my ‘real’ dance shoes. You can find these shoes at Sears.


Pianegonda Necklace
While in Sweden Karlo bought me what he hoped was a Swedish piece of jewelry. Turns out it’s Italian (even better). It’s a very simple white gold necklace and pendant, but I love it to death. I have a crazy amount of jewelry in my jewelry box that includes many nice pieces that Karlo gave me, but for some reason I put this one on in the Spring and only took it of a handful of times. I wear it just about every single day. Now, I was going to recommend that you check out the brand because it’s so unique, but after researching it online I found out two things: 1) It’s incredibly difficult to find here in the states, and 2) it’s quite expensive. I had no idea this brand was so expensive and not only did I talk myself out of buying earrings, but I had to scold Karlo for his purchase. So let’s move on . . .


Smooth Away Hair Remover
This one is almost embarrassing. Every time I see an infomercial I get sucked in and then feel stupid. I really wanted to try this hair remover despite the fact that it looked too good to be true. So when I found it at Job Lots on the cheap, I bought it. And guess what? It really works. You just rub it on your skin and the hair just disappears. It doesn’t hurt and it’s like magic.



Plum Wine
Do you remember the plum wine we had for our anniversary? Well, it’s now my favorite sinful treat. We order a glass every time we go to our favorite Asian restaurant and it’s just so yummy. . . and strong. I swear it would be the perfect remedy for my stress because its like giant muscle relaxer. It’s not like most wine in that it’s sort of thick and smooth. You just gotta try it.


Hot Cinnamon Tea
And while we are on the subject of drinks, I discovered the best tea in the world. It’s made right here in CT by Harney and Sons and like no other teas I’ve ever tried. I have been trying to find a tea that tastes so good on it’s own that I wouldn’t need to add sugar. Convinced that nothing like this existed I resolved to just using lots and lots of sugar. But this stuff is just what I’ve been looking for. Delicious on it’s own. Not sure if you can buy it at the grocery store, but you can order right on their web site. At first I thought it was a little pricey, but when you consider how much you spend at Dunkin Donuts or Starbucks, it’s a bargain for a truly gourmet drink.

Neti Pot
OK, I have to admit, I first discovered what a neti pot was on Oprah. But it was a complete stranger that pushed me to try one. I complained about my constant sinus headaches on my YogaDudes blog and somebody recommended I give the neti pot a try. I’ll be damned, it worked. I almost got through the entire allergy season without meds. I still can’t believe how it makes you feel to clean out your nasal passages. I highly recommend it.

Netflix Streaming
Here’s one favorite thing that costs nothing! Well, that is assuming that you’re already a member of Netflix. I don’t know many people that aren’t. Most people use Netflix for renting movies and TV shows, but this year I discovered that subscribing to Netflix is like getting a free gym membership. I use it every week in my office. I shut my door, pick out a work-out video, and exercise right in my office. There are tons of different workouts to pick from and I choose whatever strikes my mood that day. I love it. No more buying and carrying around dozens of work-out DVDs. They have everything from yoga and Pilates, to kickboxing and dancing. Check them out.

Kiln
I just couldn’t make a list of my favorite things from 2009 and not include my kiln. I am so surprised and proud of myself for actually using it. It has been much more fun than I ever imagined. The perfect outlet for my creativity. I’m sure I’ll be enjoying it for many more years to come.

I’m So Hungry

I feel like Karlo! This is terrible. I can’t imagine going around every minute of every day feeling hungry like he (claims that he) does. Most of this week I’ve been hungry which is very out of character for me. I eat lots, but still I don’t feel full. I catch myself watching the clock and looking forward to my next meal. I’ve been stealing snacks all day long, but they don’t seem to make a dent in my appetite. In trying to figure out what is wrong with me (is it a tapeworm?) I chatted with Karlo and we came to the conclusion that it must be from my recent weight lifting sessions that we started back up this week. This is so typical for me. If I don’t work out at all, I eat very little. But the minute I start exercising, I double my food intake. You should see what I can eat after long distance bike rides. It is truly impressive. Karlo explained that I tore my muscle tissues apart and my body is working overtime to repair them. Based on the amount of pain in my biceps at this moment, I believe this theory. If exercising doubles my food intake, it would seem to be a whole lot easier to maintain my weight by simply NOT exercising, right? Uuugh.

In discussing this theory with Karlo further he explained that lifting weights definitely causes a greater appetite. Here were his words exactly, “For sure weight lifting makes you hungry. I started lifting weights when I was 16 and I’ve been hungry ever since!”

So my newest training program is going to be lying on the couch.

A Little Bit Distracted

I've been slacking with the blog posts this week. Not only do I have nothing interesting to say, but I've been rather distracted lately. During the daytime I'm distracted by my pesky job. And at night I'm distracted by this:

Just look at the size of that puppy. Oh, I meant the new iMac, not the puppy on the other screen. That tiny monitor sitting on my printer is (not only a loaner from work since I fried mine this weekend) but is a 20 inch monitor. I don't even know what the size of the monster sitting next to it is. Let's just call it XL. And it's been an extra large task getting it set up. I'm very proud of the fact that I successfully installed Windows 7 on it (as you can see on the screen). This was quite the accomplishment seeing as the bonehead at Apple's tech support emphatically told me that it can NOT be done. Well, I guess I showed him!

So most of my evening time is spent loading software, moving data, and just getting it all set up. This is my first blog posting from the new iMac and I have to say, I struggled just to get the picture included. sigh. I still have more work to do.

And speaking of pictures, a friend was disappointed at my lack of pictures of the gallery over the weekend. Here's a few snapshots (of the empty gallery) that I took on Saturday. Once the visitors arrived I ditched the camera. That was stupid.

Here's me just before opening. Check out the sign that Karlo made for the shack:

Here is Peanut helping me set up:

And here's the entire tour of the gallery. Don't blink or you will miss something:

What a Weekend

I think I’m just getting my voice back. Although the sales at the gallery were very slow, the visiting with friends was in full swing. What a ball I had hanging out all weekend and doing nothing but catching up with friends, without the guilt that I should be working. As much as I stressed over being ready for the gallery opening, I was looking forward to two straight days (actually, two straight weekends) of just sitting still. And it was better than I even hoped. On Saturday we had non-stop guests and the day flew by. We even had our last (saintly) visitors call ahead to see if it was OK to bring us dinner. HELLO! Is this really a question? How amazingly nice it was to close up shop and move the party to the house. Lisa made the best turkey stew and I made my contribution to the meal by slaving over the oven to bake an apple crisp pie. OK, since Penni is reading I better fess up. I sort of warmed up a frozen pie, but it required me operating the oven and I did a good job. Everything was delicious. We talked until 10 PM. What a perfect day.

Sunday was more of the same only less visitors, but they stayed longer. I still can’t believe that my cousins drove an hour and 15 minutes to see the gallery. Since they invested so much time in the commute, I insisted they stay and visit all afternoon. It was their first time to our house and to be honest I never spent quality time visiting with these guys so it was really special.

Everything went very smoothly inside the gallery, minus the near electrical fire yesterday. I sort of fried my computer monitor, but learned a valuable lesson. I have to say, it was really nice to live out my dream and I really enjoyed myself as I sat and painted pottery in my toasty, cozy ‘studio’ with my hounds snoozing by my side. It was the most relaxing time I spent in a very long time and now that I think about it, my shoulder didn’t hurt all weekend.

Thanksgiving Eating Tips from Karlo

This past weekend Karlo managed to sneak a gigantic Belgian chocolate bar into our grocery cart without my knowledge. I have to admit I wasn’t too upset when it appeared on the dining room table after our dinner. Knowing Karlo’s eating habits, and being selfish enough to want to have my fair share of the bar, I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t planning to eat the entire thing all at once (like he normally does). I’ve learned that if I want any food in our house I need to eat it immediately, or go without. I’ll scarf down huge pieces of watermelon when I’m so full I think I’m going to burst because I know if I don’t get some on the spot it will be gone in 10 minutes. I hate having to do this, so with this chocolate bar I was going to set some rules.

I pondered how I was going to tell Karlo that he was NOT eating the entire bar on the spot. At first I thought I should point out that this bar was supposed to be 8 servings, but I knew that wouldn’t phase him. He doesn’t blink an eye at eating 10 servings at one time. So I thought I would re-phase and said, “Karlo, this candy bar is going to last for more than one sitting.” And he happily agreed instead of the protest that I was expecting . . . about it going bad if we didn’t eat it right away. I sat there for a few moments stunned trying to figure out what he was up to and then he says, “I’ll stand up and sit down as many times as you want me to.”

So there you have it folks. Eat as much as you want tomorrow. Just make sure you stand up and sit back down every once in a while because that qualifies you for a whole ‘nother serving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

Breaking Him In

Well it's been a whole week with Cooper running around the house. OK, that may be a stretch for what a greyhound does around the house. Maybe I should re-phrase . . . It's been a whole week with Cooper sleeping around the house and I'm happy to report he's working out just fine. Every day he learns new things and is becoming a more polite house guest. It sure is amazing to watch him develop and evolve from a track dog, used to living in a cage, to a loving pet. I'm really enjoying this experience and I often can't wait to get home just to hug him.

I particularly love the weekends because it gives us more time with the hounds. It's getting harder and harder to take our after-work hikes with the sun falling out of the sky earlier and earlier. This weekend we took the dogs to one of our favorite hiking trails nearby. So far Cooper has only hiked the short trails on our property so this was a big outing. We only took him half the distance we normally take Peanut and that was quite enough for him. It's amazing how such a buff animal can be so out of shape. Actually, I can sort of relate to that myself. Anytime I complain about being out of shape I always get the hairy eyeball. The similarities between me and greyhounds never cease to amaze me. We both can 'look' in shape even when we are not. So we're going to have to break Cooper in slowly and let him work up his endurance for some real hikes this winter. But first we need to teach him what snow is. I'm pretty sure this will be his first experience in the white stuff.

Here are the happy hounds during the hike:

And here they are 2 minutes after getting home:

This is Not Going to Work

In an attempt to solve one problem I created another. The problem I was trying to solve was our confusing driveway situation. I always try to make a point to explain our driveway(s) to first-time visitors because being presented with three different options on the road can be somewhat confusing. And in the event that I forget to explain the situation it usually results in our guests having to hike up the hill that separates our backyard from our front door. I’ll never forgot the one couple that had to scale up the slippery rock in nearly a foot of snow because I forgot to warn them about our driveways. After that incident one of us usually tries to ‘stand guard’ watching the back driveway through the windows. At least if we knew somebody was coming to the back of the house we could rescue them.

So how brilliant of an idea was it to buy a gadget that sounds an alarm in the house when a car drives down the back driveway? Not only would this solve the problem of visitors arriving without our knowledge and not being able to access a door from the basement level of the house, but it would definitely come in handy for the gallery. I could sit in the warm toasty house and only run out to the gallery when visitors arrive. I loved this solution!

Karlo set it up yesterday and it worked like a charm. He drove back and fourth while I danced around the house to the sound of the alarm chimes.

But then nighttime came and little did we know that every deer that walks by would set if off. That darn alarm chime went off about 4 times last night. I got so conditioned by alarms going off and falling back to sleep that I didn’t distinguish between the driveway alarm and our real alarm this morning. I just rolled over and went back to sleep. Good grief. Looks like we will have to get into the habit of turning it on and off every day.

Getting Ready For Opening Day

This was the last weekend before the gallery's big opening and we sure were busy getting ready. Luckily I had some help from a friend who did a great job with the displays. I swear that was my biggest challenge. I find it easy to make the jewelry, yet impossible to show it off. The only idea that was mine was making little "jewelry trees" and I was quite proud of them. Everybody (including the hounds) pitched in to lend a hand and I was very grateful for the help.




I think I'm in good shape now and won't need to do too much more for opening day. That should leave me some time to do some Christmas shopping on the dreaded Black Friday. After opening my calendar I realized that after the two upcoming weekends which are 100% dedicated to the gallery, the following weekend is 100% dedicated to work. We have to go away to Florida for work again and by the time we come home I have exactly one weekend before Christmas. Holy shopping problem Batman. If I don't get my act together on Black Friday there will be no Christmas.